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Roleplay Etiquette
Greetings role-players of Elysium RP, this page will be focused on God Role-play, Powergaming, Metagaming and essentially what that basically is and means. It is highly recommended new role-players read this article to prevent the common mistakes seen all about in role-play. Role-play Etiquette It is important to maintain a sense of etiquette when role-playing. It can be as simple as being kind, to respecting others mistakes. Common sense is the main underlying factor for Role-play Etiquette, and always remember the Golden Rule; treat others the way you wish to be treated. Powergaming Powergaming essentially is controlling another's actions, thoughts or choices. Powergaming is when someone emotes for another person, or decides what other people think. It is a common mistake new role-players make and it should be avoided. Good ways of avoiding powergaming include emoting your character's actions specifically, waiting for others to respond in an emote before emoting your next line, and vice versa. Powergaming can be hard to avoid at first, but it should always be remembered that you are the boss of your own character, and you solely control your own character. An example of powergaming: John attacks Mike with a knife, slicing his face as Mike jumps out the way. John kicks him in the head and kneels on him, knocking him out with his fists. He then ties him up. In this example, John pulls a knife out on Mike without saying where it came from. He didn't explain where the rope comes from either. The most important thing is, he didn't wait for Mike to respond after pulling a knife out; instead he continues with his own actions by forcing one upon Mike and then playing out the result of that. Metagaming Very similar to Powergaming is Metagaming. This is when you use out of character information, such as titles floating above another person's head to determine their name, age or race etc. or using knowledge from out of character chats in role-play to benefit your own character. A good example of metagaming is when someone assumes they know your character's name IRP and calls you it whilst role-playing. This is the most common mistake in metagaming. A good way to avoid metagaming is to literally be and think like your character solely - know only what your character knows and find out information IRP rather than leeching it out of other chats out of character or in PMs, etc. Remember, if you struggle with this, that you are your character and you only know knowledge of what has been spoken in local chat to your character. An example of metagaming is: A new player walks into Dunta Tavern and sees the character name of another player. Instead of introducing their own character and asking the other player what their name is, they automatically walk up and go "Hello there Peter!". This is metagaming, since the new player does not know who this other player is and has used information he has obtained out of character to role-play with. God Role-play / God Modding Finally, the most annoying and common role-play etiquette sins - the infamous God role-player. For those who do not know what this means, a God Role-player is someone who has a character invincible, or next to invincible, and constantly triumphs over others in fights. They are someone who has an unlimited amount of power and have no limitation to their actions. The examples for this are endless, but a good way to avoid God role-playing is to take hits every now and then, play your weaknesses and know your limitations. It can be hard at first to spot god role-play, but soon you'll surely get the hang of it. It is also recommend to attempt when attacking someone in emote rather then forcibly attack. For example: Mike avoids the blow that John attempts and strikes back with his dagger, which he pulls out of the sheaths on his leather belt. John quickly sprouts wings from his back and flies out of the way. He then summons a portal with a wave of his hand and appears behind Mike, swinging his heavy Greatsword of Might with one hand and cutting off Mike's head. In this example, there are no explanations for any of John's abilities; he gains wings out of no where. summons a portal and has super-strength. He allows no time for Mike to respond, deciding everything himself and not even allowing Mike to hit him at all. Mary Sue-ism Very similar God Role-play is the Mary Sue - the character who is perfect in every way and who has no flaws, only strengths. These include psychologically or physically perfect characters. It should be noted that every character should have weaknesses and limitations, regardless of their strengths, and is highly recommended to have more weaknesses then strengths. A good way to avoid this is to add more weaknesses than strengths to your character. Though they may have weaknesses, a common problem is not playing those weaknesses. You should always know your character's weaknesses by heart and play them when applicable. An example of Mary Sue-ism: Jenna was an orphan, whose parents died when she was very little. They were heroes, who died fighting a band of thieves to protect the town. Growing up in an orphanage, Jenna was the prettiest girl there and always wish that someone would come to adopt her, even though everyone at the orphanage treated her really nicely and always complimented her. However, one day Jenna was picking flowers in a field when a carriage drove by and stopped. Scared, Jenna ran away to the orphanage. The next day, she saw the carriage again and it was the King! The King had seen Jenna and wanted to adopt her! So she became a Princess and got everything she wanted because she was so nice and pretty, etc. This is a very extreme case (I got a tad carried away writing it) but you get the general gist; nothing bad happens to the character. Consent Rules/Death Perms Death consent- often known as Death perms are a way of roleplay that allows one player to kill another's character. Consent Rules: * The ideal consent-based exchange is to have both parties discuss what they're comfortable with/where they'd like the violence to go as early as possible in a fight or other potentially violent encounter. Any agreement made in this manner overrules any other conditional consent levels. Neither has any obligation to go further than what their counterpart agrees to, and any players entering the fight are bound to the level of consent that has been established. Should newcomers wish to escalate the level of violence, it's done selectively with any that wish to participate in that higher level. ** Aggressor's consent: A spontaneously aggressive party, without prior communication, may not kill or permanently maim their target without explicit consent or pre-existing circumstance that would remove the need for consent. However, if the aggressor is attacking in an eminently lethal manner (i.e. attacking with a weapon), the aggressor automatically consents to wherever the combat RP leads, including death or permanent maiming. ** Defender's consent: A party spontaneously attacked by an aggressor can be subject to nonlethal violence, and do not automatically consent to more severe violence by whatever means they employ to protect themselves. However, their assumed level of consent changes should they escalate it, such as by killing an attacker or counterattacking in a lethal manner that would immediately incapacitate the aggressor should he not defend. To clarify, the defending party can do whatever they must to keep themselves free of harm, including injury to the attacker. It's only considered to have escalated if they land an attack that summarily results in the death of the aggressor, or make an attack that would immediately kill the aggressor should they not defend against it. * "Castle Law;" Characters unlawfully in the residence of another character automatically consent to violence and death if given express warning by the resident, either ICly or OOCly, and are afforded appropriate chance to respond. The homeowners assume a level of consent equal to what they establish. This can be escalated or deescalated by discussion, as expressed in the first point. * Characters actively stealing or otherwise jeopardizing the property of another automatically consent to some flavor of violence, within reason; petty theft may be worth a beating, whereas significant property damage/loss may incur more severe consequence. This gets subjective with all the various degrees of larceny, and as such I heavily advise any attempts at theft be first discussed with the intended target to determine and agree upon the severity of their reaction. * Characters that intentionally put another character in a position of harm without directly doing harm themselves automatically consent to whatever violence is necessary for the victim to escape from their circumstance. The offending character may also be held responsible for any harm incurred by the victim as a consequence of his actions, and automatically matches any level of consent that is realized. For example, should Character A sell B to some slavers who nearly murder him, B is then entitled to nearly murder A. * Turnabout is fair play. Any action taken against a character is automatically grounds for consequence on the same level of violence by the character or those acting on the character's behalf (both ICly and OOCly). Established conspiracy for action against a character is also grounds for reciprocating the action should the conspiracy be reasonably serious; should it be in motion and not just an idle hypothetical. This also means that a character menacingly approaching another with a knife while saying something to the effect of "I'm going to shank you" may assume a preemptive retaliatory shanking to be in order. * For any local laws where the punishment would otherwise require serious consent, such as removing a thief's hand, the perpetrator is only automatically culpable for crimes committed within the territory holding the law. It is their responsibility to know law and order in the town where they decide to break it, but they are not subject to it if they committed crimes elsewhere. Consent may be obtained for such, but is not inherent. However, punishment arriving as equivalent consequence for actions taken by the character assumes the "turnabout" rule in establishing consent. Levels of Consent: By increasing severity: * Nonviolent: Baseline RP, no combat. No consent involved. * Nonlethal: Fighting with low chance of causing serious injury, such as a fistfight. Does not automatically consent the aggressor to more severe violence/death, unless it escalates to the point of preventing the victim from adequately defending himself further (unconsciousness, etc.). * Potentially lethal: Fighting with a high chance of causing serious injury or death, such as with a drawn weapon. Whoever initiates action in this manner (actively swinging a sword, not just drawing it) automatically consents to violence up to death, unless its inclusion was previously agreed upon. * Lethal: Actively trying to kill a character. Requires consent, unless consent otherwise voided. * Permanent maiming: Anything that irrevocably impairs the physical function of a character, such as loss of limb. Almost always requires explicit consent separate to any automatic consent, unless there's strong precedent for the character to receive such. Category:Roleplay Category:Elysium roleplay Category:Guides